Control systems

Article By:

Dorf, Richard C. Division of Extended Learning, University of California, Davis, California.

Beale, Guy O. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.

Last reviewed:June 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.159700

Interconnections of components forming system configurations which will provide a desired system response as time progresses. The steering of an automobile is a familiar example. The driver observes the position of the car relative to the desired location and makes corrections by turning the steering wheel. The car responds by changing direction, and the driver attempts to decrease the error between the desired and actual course of travel. In this case, the controlled output is the automobile's direction of travel, and the control system includes the driver, the automobile, and the road surface. The control engineer attempts to design a steering control mechanism which will provide a desired response for the automobile's direction control. Different steering designs and automobile designs result in rapid responses, as in the case of sports cars, or relatively slow and comfortable responses, as in the case of large autos with power steering.

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